toward mid nature and the nation teethers on the edge of the so-called fiscal cliff. >> let's pass the tax relief portion now. let's take what's been agreed to and get moving. >> reporter: the tentative deal would extend bush era tax cuts for families making $450,000 a year and individuals making 40 o,000. it would also extend unemployment benefits for one year. president obama said he would have preferred a grand bargain that solves all of washington's revenue and spending problems. >> with this congress, that was obviously a little too much to hope for at this time. it may be we can do it in stages. >> reporter: negotiations have been going on all day, lawmakers and aids moving back and forth between meeting rooms on what is normally a quiet new year's eve. the major sticking point now is spending. the president suggested lawmakers take action on deficit reduction in the next few months and that more tax revenue could be involved in those discussions. but republicans are furious at that possibility. >> i'm willing to support revenue to deal with this problem. the overall problem. but what i will not agree to is using revenue to replace spending reductions. >> reporter: even if the senate frawfs deal by midnight the house

with speaker boehner to forge compromise to avert the fiscal cliff which will kick in in about six days if nothing's done. those are the headlines. everyone talking about cutting his vacation short. the question is there anything that can be done? they were at an impasse before christmas, the republicans and house imploded and it's a tight spot. i suspect if there's a deal, it will be unpalatable for everyone. >> there was a interchange before the talks broke down. we have the quotes. john boehner said to obama, quote, i put $800 billion in tax revenue on the table. what do i get for that? allegedly we understand president obama came back to him and said, you get nothing. i get that for free. you get nothing. >> there were a couple eye-opening quotes. a "wall street journal" story before christmas that went through the timeline of how this happened between painer and the president -- boehner and the president. boehner put the rough knee on the table and the president saying that's what i get out of the gate. you get nothing for that, which was a surprise to the speaker. he said if we go over the cliff, that the president threatened boehner, he said i will use my i

washington to attempt a last ditch effort with speaker boehner to forge compromise to avert the fiscal cliff which will kick in in about six days if nothing'ss done. those are the headlines. everyone talking about cutting his vacation short. the question is there anything that can be done? they were at an impasse before christmas, the republicans and house imploded and it's a tight spot. i suspect if there's a deal,t will be unpalatable for everyone. >> there was a interchange before the talks broke wn. we have the quotes. john boehner said to obama, quote, iut $800 billio i tax revenue on the table. what do i get for that? allegedly we understand president obama came back to him and said, you get nothing. i get that for free. you get nothing. >> there were a couple eye-opening quotes. a "wall reet journal" story before christmas that went through the timeline of how this happened between painer and the president -- boehner and the president. boehner put the rough knee on the table and the president saying that's what i get out of the gate. you get nothing for that, which was a surprise to the speaker. he said if we go over the cliff, that the president threatened boehner, he said i will use my inaugural a

country goes off the fiscal cliff. it would maphase in tax hikes or the years and prioritize spending cuts. he says he's frustrated and tried to do something. >> it was crossing the wires it's more than frustration it sounds like desperation at this point as they are losing hope. the chained cpi the social security adjustment you were talking about basically changes the way they configure the cost of living and would make those benefits smaller checks. does it sound like republicans are willing to let that go? >> seems like they are willing to let that go. senator mcconnell says no stumbling block should cutff this deal. when the democrats protested they said fine take it off the table but it talks like reed and the republican leader got stuck. they called in the bullpen. called in a senate colleague vice president joe biden. >> willing to work with whoev er can help. it remain as possible sticking point. appears to be a willingness and interest or the courage to close the deal. >> top on the republican side sound hopeful because they believe vice president biden can cut a deal but it may not

. the deadline to strike a deal is tomorrow.... or, the u-s plunges off the so- called fiscal cliff and possibly into an economic free fall. facing a dreaded combination of spending cuts and tax hikes... president obama made an appearance, on n-b-c's meet the press. "regardless of partisan differences, our top priority has to be to make sure that taxes on middle class families do not go up that would hurt our economy badly." democrats want to keep the bush-era tax cuts for everyone, except the wealthiest americans. just how wealthy?..is a major sticking point... with negotiations now focused on an income threshold around 400-to-500 thousand dollars. *republicans argue the problem isn't tax revenue...but spending. they want reforms to entitlements. but a proposal to change the way social security benefits are measured against inflation was pulled from the table. vice president joe biden -- talked to minority leader mitch mcconnell several times today...in an effort to break the stalemate. hopefully, the discussions between the vice president and senator mcconnell will get us back on track, hopefully get a breakthrough and something we can vote on. i hope by the end of day

the american people to understand exactly what this fiscal cliff is. because it's actually not that complicated. the tax cuts that were introduced in 2001, 2003, 2010, those were extended and they're all about to expire at the end of the year. so on midnight, december 31st, if congress doesn't act, then everybody's taxes go up. and for the average family, that could mean a loss of $2,000 in income. for the entire economy, that means consumers have a lot less money to make purchases, which means businesses are going to have a lot less customers, which means that they're less likely to hire and the whole economy could slow down at a time when the economy is starting to pick up and we're seeing signs of recovery in housing and employment numbers improving. so what congress needs to do first and foremost, is to prevent taxes from going up for the vast majority of americans. and this was a major topic of discussion throughout the campaign. what i said was, that we should keep taxes where they are for 98% of americans. 97% of small businesses. but if we're serious about deficit reduction, we should make sure that the w

block fiscal cliff across-the-board tax increases and sweeping spenning cuts that were due to take effect at midnight. though the midnight deadline was brea final agreement. there could be a senate vote in a matter of hours on the proposed deal. and the house will reconvene less than 12 hours from now. the temporary agreement keeps income tax rates steady for most americans, limiting tax hikes to people making more than $450,000. and extends jobless benefits for 2 million unemployed. and puts off automatic spending cuts on the pentagon and domestic programs for two months. now back to "the five" new year's eve special. for all of your headlines, go to our web site at foxnews.com. five." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> juan: getting redty to party. the last segment we took a look at the serious moments on "the five" this year. now let's get to the good stuff. roll the tape. ♪ notice >> are we non- >> bob. >> sorry. ♪ ♪ notice ♪ ♪ >> hostess brand maker of twinkies. [ laughter ] >> lockness monster was a hoax. >> what? that is a hoax? it's not real? >> oh, man. i'm really going to upset

about the fiscal cliff most of the attention is about taxes going up and that being the so called fiscal cliff but the other side of that cliff is that the massive spending cuts automatic cuts are kicking in at the beginning of next year. largely targeted at the pentagon. and what is interesting is all of this deal making we are talking about on capitol hill would really just focus on unemployment benefits and tax side of the cliff as i mentioned and most of deals it appears would not shut off the so called sequester that would hit the pentagon. on "fox news sunday" senator lindsey graham told chris wallace he got a call from the defense secretary suggesting these cuts are coming. lake a listen. >> i was called by leon panetta at 7:30 during dinner. >> secretary of defense. >> this is the failure of the supercommittee to find $1.2 trillion in cuts. half of the 1.2 falls on defense who already cut. he says if we do this we will shoot the defense department in the head and send out 800,000 layoff notices the beginning of the year. he is worried to death if we don't fix sequestration we will destroy the biggest military in the world at the time we need it most. >> impact

about taxes but spending cuts. >> that's right. half of the fiscal cliff is the fact that the bush tax rates are expiring midnight tonight. we've focused on that, whose taxes are going up, is it $250,000, or $400,000. the sequester, the spending cuts to the pentagon and elsewhere kick in. the bottom line is when you talk to republican senators they say the issue is not taxes, it's if you give the president more revenue he'll spend it on more government programs. >> senator harry reid should have made sure the senate passed a budget sometime in the last three years and it would be reconciled with the house and you would have a framework, a budget resolution. the fact we're down to the 59th minute of the 11th-hour and a couple elected officials and unelected staffs behind closed doors doing a back room deal is an outrage. >> in the final moments, a key development is that vice president joe biden has been in delaware for the weekend. he came back a few hours ago and is huddled behind closed doors, two phone calls with mitch mcconnell. a year and a half ago, it looked like all hope was lost and vice president with his long time in the senate many years was able to reach out to mitch mcconnell and they pulled a deal together in the final

going over the fiscal cliff. let the tax cut expire. come back in, offer the tax cuts for people under 250. call them obama cuts and get it going. if you are in congress. you make $175,000 a year. you get vacation days off. they go back and smoke cigars, eat steak, drink wine and laugh. >> andrea: is there something wrong with eating and drinking? if with pay them to do it. >> eric: they want to hit the buffet line. >> andrea: do it on their own time. not when the country is in a financial crisis. i think obama gets a superhero cape after this. >> andrea: people say republican goes down either way on this. but the house and the senate, this last election by blaming republicans. does he think he will get blamed for this? no. he figures i can do whatever i want. leave the republicans out for dead. >> eric: he is winning the messaging game. that is clear. >> andrea: i say that with confidence. he was able to say look, i was willing to meet them halfway. more than 50%. they don't want to work with us together. he is coming off strong, coming off the supporters, sticking to his positi

fiscal cliff deal if it gives more tax cuts to the 2% and sets the stage for more hostage taking. he is referring to the debt ceiling debate that's coming early next year. goes on to tweet republican's fiscal cliff double think fiscal crisis demands cuts in service, no investment in jobs but allows more tax cuts for richest americans. if and when this comes up for votes in the house and senate, it's unclear how many democrats especially on the left will support this, or buck the president, basically. bret? >> bret: ed henry live in the white house. thank you. stocks started the week up. possibly encouraged early in the day about talk of this possible deal. the dow finished ahead 166. the s&p 500 was up 24. the nasdaq gained 59 another deal not fiscal cliff related. the senate home security committee blasted the state department for failures leading to the deadly september 11th attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi, libya. this comes on the heels of another scathing report by an independent state department accountability review board that we have covered many times. chief intelligen

. but i think it's important for the american people to understand exactly what this fiscal cliff is. because it's actually not that complicated. the tax cuts that were introduced in 2001, 2003, 2010, those were extended and they're all about to expire at the end of the year. so on midnight, december 31st, if congress doesn't act, then everybody's taxes go up. and for the average family, that could mean a loss of $2,000 in income. for the entire economy, that means consumers have a lot less money to make purchases, which means businesses are going to have a lot less customers, which means that they're less likely to hire and the whole economy could slow down at a time when the economy is starting to pick up and we're seeing signs of recovery in housing and employment numbers improving. so what congress needs to do first and foremost, is to prevent taxes from going up for the vast majority of americans. and this was a major topic of discussion throughout the campaign. what i said was, that we should keep taxes where they are for 98% of americans. 97% of small businesses. but if we're serious about deficit reduction, we should make sure that the w

fiscal cliff at midnight. economists have been warning us the combination of tax hikes and spending cuts could cause another recession. now, president obama and the senate republican leaders say they are close to a deal to prevent tax hikes on the middle class. the trouble is, the house has gone home and won't be voting on anything tonight. >> for now, our most immediate priority is to stop taxes going up for middle class families starting tomorrow. i think that is a modest goal that we can accomplish. >> we all want to protect taxpayers, and we can get it done now. right now. >> trace: officials tell fox news agreement would let tax cuts expire on $450,000 instead of the president's cut off $250,000. extend unemployment benefits for another year it does not include any new spending cuts. of course, that's the other big issue in this fiscal cliff standoff. we have team fox coverage. mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. but first to ed henry at the white house. ed, it looks as if we are taking the plunge. >> it does, trace. but what i think the white house is hoping here tonight is that lawmak

a republican. >> stop, get out of here. the fiscal cliff is defense cuts and high taxes welcome to the republican party. >> rational people say that's not a good thing to do. i would hope that robert and sober behavior before new year's eve would land like an alien rocketship in washington and get these people to the table. >> greg: alice, you are sane, i believe. what do you make of this? the point i'm trying to make is why are the democrats scared of the fiscal cliff when it defines basically their ultimate dream? the democrats are anxious. they are embracing the fiscal cliff. we got obamaened a democrats in the conservative thunder bird ready to put the pedal to the metal on the fiscal cliff. they can raise taxes. they can cut military spending and they can blame the g.o.p. when the g.o.p. is doing the smart thing here wanted pointing the finger at the real problem, which is out of control spending. fixing this problem is not going to be easy but it's not complicated. we can't rely on raising taxes. we have to focus on cutting spending. that's what republicans are doing. even mo

avert falling over the fiscal cliff. senate leaders need to put something together to avoid tax increases for just about everyone and big spending cuts. senator claire mccaskill says a make or brake deal comes down to a few lawmakers on topic of raising taxes for the wealthy. >> it remains to be scene whether the republicans being driven by a very extreme group of house members will allow our economy to pert because of their desire to protect multimillionaires in this country. that's what it's going to boil down to. >> any plan would need house speaker john baner to bring it to the floor for a vote. republican representative tom cole says he's confident that boehner can get the votes he needs. >> on the speaker's plan, he had over 200 republican votes, it's not as if he had an awfully strong hand to play, if it's a deal john boehner can accept, it will be passed in a bipartisan manner with a very strong majority. if on the other hand he's neutral or not favorable, his chances will be a lot slimmer. >> lisa desjardins following the fiscal cliff negotiations on capitol hill. do you have any good news for us, lisa? >> reporter: the news is a lit

tributor. around the consequences of going over the fiscal cliff actually a democrat's dream? all that's missing are vegan lunches and yoga in classrooms. you have high taxes and defense cuts. you must be giddy good going over the cliff. >> not me, i don't want to go over the cliff. i have investments, i work for a living, and guess what? it would be absolutely traumatic for the american economy and the global economy and the recession is not exactly in the midst of a strong recovery. it's pretty weak, so i don't think it's good news for anybody and this is something that the press doesn't pay attention to, greg. i think that if obama has to start a second term with everybody saying, oh my gosh, the sky is falling, the economy is going to hell, then consumer confidence thinking, that's not good news for democrats, so why would you think it's good news for democrats? >> because you just sounded like a republican. >> oh sclop! get out of here. >> you're saying that hurts the party. welcome to the republican party. >> rags nam people say that's not a good thing to do. i would hope that rationality before new year's eve would land like an alien rocket ship in washington and get the

deal to overt the so-called fiscal cliff. in unison, his pals in the news media repeated this white house talking point. >> president obama cutting short his vacation in hawaii, heading back now to washington. that will happen tonight to work on the fiscal cliff deal. >> the looming fiscal cliff is forcing president obama to cut short his christmas vacation. >> president obama is cutting short his christmas vacation. he is leaving hawaii tonight so that he can be back in washington when congress reconvenes tomorrow. >> laura: so we should believe that by leaving his island enclave that the president was making some big sacrifice for the country? i'm thinking washington, crossing the delaware on a bitter christmas night 1776 before going on to defeat the british in two major battles, that's sacrifice. i, for one, never understood how in good conscious any of these politicians would think about leaving town with so much riding on this cliff hanger? shouldn't they get their work done before they leave town for a break? that's what's expected for most working americans but then again washington politicians have rules of their own. people w

over this so-called fiscal cliff? >> that's a really good question. it's one of the reasons i'm pretty excited about the fact we already acted. we acted several months ago to extend the tax cuts for all americans. we don't have to go over the cliff. there is a piece of legislation that has passed house, which is good-- >> schieffer: well, craig shirley, who is a republican operative tauthor, observer, was quoted as saying if we were in a parliamentary system, what happened to speaker boehner would have been viewed as a vote of no confidence. do you think speaker boehner ought to step aside and let somebody else try to get this done? >> speaker boehner will be the speaker next year, without any question. the onus right now is on senator reid and the president to come up with a solution, make it a piece of legislation, pass it through the senate, present it to the house, and let's get back to the bargaining table. the american people deserve for both houses to do something and ask the president to sign it. >> schieffer: well, are you saying that the house, speaker boehner, should take no responsibility for this impasse that we've come to? isn't some of the onus on him? >> i would s

fiscal cliff is looking steeper and closer. noted economist arthur lapert joins us to tell us how this game >> is very sad, but this legislation is what is said. the legislation has the piration of the tax cuts after 10 years. if nothing is done, all tax rates go up. what you see happening allowing some of them to go, all of them to go up, it is a very difficult situation for speaker boehner and the house republicans to be in. i feel very sorry for them. they are caught in a trap. lou: a trap, a conundrum that was perfectly visible. it was transparent where we would be. and the republicans, the republican leadership, the republican national committee. all of the so-called wise men and women of the party did absolutely nothing to prepare for this strategic moment, and they are coming up woefully short. >> that's very true. you knew it happened 10 years ago when there was a provision that this was going to happen. here it is. i think the key for the republicans from my standpoint is to get this over with as quickly as possible. the serious business of trying to prevent spending increases and other programs. without giving up the position of republicans and being able to get those tax cuts. we will h

on where he head now. >> reporter: pessimistic tone for heading for the fiscal cliff in days. president obama and senators cut the christmas vacation short. the leader is happy to review what the president has in mind but to date they have not put forward a plan. late today, mcconnell expressed frustration. >> this is a conversation we should have had months ago. republicans aren't about to write a blank check or anything that senate democrats put forward just because we find ourselves at the essential. >> asked if he was going over the cliff, biden joked cliff? what cliff? this has been operated with a dictatorship of the speaker. not allowing the vast majority of the representatives to get what they want. they want them to return in case a deal is in the final hours. today, the u.s. is heading over the cliff. >> what goes away next week is the bush tax cut that they loathed since they went in place a secon decade ago. don't assume the president wants to cut a deal. he wants to see if he'll be blamed for it before they negotiate. they talk about the meeting tomorrow with the president and key congressional leade

ongoing right now and that is really the last hope we have to get something done before the fiscal cliff. >> does the minority leader and the senate, do they concur with the house of representatives. because it's eventually going to have to go through the house? >> absolutely. they would remaining in contact. just to make sure that the house would be agreeable to whatever the senate minority leader put out. democrats would have to be apprised of that as well but any agreement is probably going to need democrats in the house of representatives. the house is also working on a number of procedural maneuvers tonight to pave the way for quick votes over the next few days. they are not actively involved in the negotiations but if these two are to get a deal, vice president and senate minority leader the house could do a quick vote. >> two other things, first, if they don't do a deal, what can the average american, expect as far as tax increases? >> the average american could and not up and down the income sale. bush tax cuts created lower tax brackets for lower income americans, so up and down

financial issues. the big issue today, the fiscal cliff. and you may be asking yourself, why is this so important? what is so cataclysmic about our nation's finances that we need to implement these monster tax increases and make draconian spending cuts. well, if you want to understand the government and its problems, take a look at these numbers. let's start with tax revenue. these are the nation's tax revenues. what you have your is just over 2 trillion in income. that's all it is really. and look at these euros. a very big number. the spending in the federal budget. you will notice to these numbers bigger than that. not good. the deficit, like how much debt or adding. over a trillion. just when you're. federal government running a a tab of a trillion. we talk about this number of the time. let's get this zero's again. a very big number. tough to get your arms around these numbers. when you see it on a piece of paper it's easier. i thought it would be even easier if we thought about one american household. what if each of those numbers translate it into one family. if you ran the household like the federal government here is what you would be looking at. your family income, 24,400. your spending, 305,400. look at this. what's going on? y

put something out that includes spending cuts because that is the problem. we have the fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling and again, that remains a problem and any deal that ignores spending is no real solution and just punts and makes it more difficult down the road. >> how do you get leverage negotiating around the debt ceiling, it is the second time in two year we have blown past the ceiling but no one cares? there is no leverage? >>guest: the bad debt deal creates the situation today 17 months ago and we will face that again in a couple of months but i hope, the last thing remembers want to do is have any say on the potential deal. we will hear the details in the next couple of hours and get final details out to us but it looks like three strikes going the wrong direction and that is frankly what most of my constituents feared washington would do, ignore the real problems and say they have solved it and go home for the new year and that, again, that does not solve the spending problem here in our capitol. >> congressman, we appreciate your take. thank you. >> hours to go before t

comes down debt ceiling. if we go over the fiscal cliff they have all of the leverage because we'll go into the debt ceiling and it will be just like 2011 again. they'll say we're not going to raise the debt ceiling unless you cut entitlements, barack obama will say no and terrified of consequences of national default he'll say yes. so they'll get all of the entitlement cuts with no tax increases on the table. democrats disagree. they will not, under any circumstance, no matter what republicans do, negotiate over the debt ceiling again. they'll break the habit now. if we go to the debt ceiling they'll say we're not talking about this, if you want to have a deal on entitlements, that will have to be matched one to one with tax increases, again, with tax reform. if they do that say democrats get $600 billion in tax increases off of the deal we'll have in the next couple of days, the small deal, reid's or mcconnell/reid deal they go to another entitlement cut tax reform negotiation they could end up with over a trillion dollar in taxes. republicans just think if they go over they won't have to worry about tax increases again and debt ceil willing give them all of the power in a month and a half. >> this is -- i mean none of us

uncertainty about the so-called fiscal cliff, tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect next year. if lawmakers don't reach a deal to avoid it, consumers could see higher taxes eating into their paychecks. even online sales suffered. compared to past years of double-digit growth, this year, online holiday sales rose only about 8%, compared to nearly 16% last year. overall, holiday spending accounts for up to 30% of retailers' annual sales, so the disappointing season is a concern for an economy struggling to recover. >> consumers need to have more confidence. consumers need to feel that their jobs are secure. it's not an ideal situation. it's more of a conservative, cautious time. and companies are managing carefully, consumers are spending carefully. >> reporter: retailers are now hoping to lure consumers with deep discounts of 75% to 80% off in some cases as they try to salvage profits from this lackluster holiday shopping season. jim. >> axelrod: so, elaine, this is the first set of holiday shopping numbers that we've seen. any chance that they'll be revised as we get more data

with five days until we fall off that fiscal cliff. the president is cutting his vacation short to return to the white house and try to hammer out a deal. but what will actually happen if we do go over the cliff? doug luzader is live for us with the details. >> it is not going to be pretty. on board air force one heading back to washington from a hawaii after cutting christmas short. can a cup of coffee help as far as christmas is concerned. starbucks is hoping. if you go into a starbucks you will get a message written on your coffee that says come together. this is a company trying to tell the president and lawmakers here they need to come up with some kind of agreement before they go over the fiscal cliff at the end of the year. the senate will be meeting today. this is the first time we have seen legislative business conducted in the weeks between christmas and new years since 1970. the house come back as well but nothing yet. the other thing to consider here the two key players in all of this president obama and republican house speaker john boehner. as far as we know the two o

news confirming he will be cutting his vacation short to get back to work on the fiscal cliff. peter doocy has more. >> president obama will departed hawaii for washington, d.c. late tonight leaving his wife michelle and daughters sasha and malia behind. the latest guidance we have from white house is that the president will be back here in the nation's capital where it is presently 36 degrees sometime tomorrow morning. united states government is set to go off the fiscal cliff on new year's day. at this point we don't know if the president plans to return at the to hawaii if the tax hikes are avoided well in advance of the of the new year. he's there to talk to himself. john boehner will come back at any time. his office told us it would be sometime after christmas. so he could be back as soon as today. the upper chamber in commerce is coming back tomorrow to pick up where they left off on the important domestic surveillance bisa. they will meet for a vote on the $50.6 billion bill for hurricane sandy relief. they will be back in the same zip code as far as we know there are no spec

deal when the new year hits. so too will the fiscal cliff. $600 billion worth of tax increases and spending cuts. it is supposed to be automatic. but now republicans are suggesting a delay, the president just spoke trying to add pressure to congress to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. listen. >> my preference would have been to solve all these problems in the context of a larger agreement, a bigger deal, a grand bargain, whatever you want to call it, that solves our deficit problems in a balanced and responsible way that doesn't just deal with the taxes, but deals with the spending in a balanced way, so that we can put all this behind us focusing on growing our economy. but with this congress, that was obviously a little too much to hope for at this time. >> let's turn now to chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. let's talk a little bit about the outlines of the deal, the fact that the president came out to make his case and try to push this thing over the finish line. what does the white house have to do to gain the backing it needs. >> reporter: well, what we heard from the president t

alert. senate leaders now holding crucial fiscal cliff talks on capitol hill rushing to come up with a last ditch agreement to avoid deep spending cuts and year end tax hikes affecting the lives of every american, i'm kelly wright. >> i'm heather childers in for jamie colby. the 11th he hour scramble after a crucial meeting on friday, between president obama and the leaders of the house and senate and urged lawmakers to urge them to do whatever it takes to cut a deal. >> i'm modestly optimistic that an agreement can be achieved. nobody is going to get 100% of what they want, but let's make sure that middle class families and the american economy and the world economy aren't adversely impacted because people can't do their jobs. >> chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is live in washington with the latest, mike. >> heather discussions are underway and i'm told we should not expect any news or announcements before senators are briefed tomorrow afternoon. after a meeting with the president late friday, the senate majority leader sounded cautiously optimistic. >> we have one meeting in the white house that was very constructive and

got to do something to soften the landing because at the bottom of the fiscal cliff, our our -- are immediate and massive tax increases, deep and indiscriminate spending cuts and the risk of another recession. so as we come down on the final hours, we have two choices -- to do nothing and cause an unbelievable amount of hardship for our fellow americans or to do something to reduce the suffering inflicted on our citizens by an inflexible political system. mr. president, i choose to do something, so today i'm introducing the calm act which stands for the cliff alleviation at the last minute act. the calm act will do three important things. it will soften the financial blow of the fiscal cliff. it will calm our financial markets. it gives us the certainty of a plan now but allows us if we ever find the courage to pursue the fiscal grand bargain that has eluded us so far. make no mistake, the financial markets are watching us, and they're getting more nervous by

sure i buy that. if it does go to the fiscal cliff and we go over it, sequestration would cut only $109 billion next year. that is actually not a lot in a budget of almost four trillion, is it? >> it's not a lot of the total number, half of that goes to defense which are own admirals and generals have said and secretary of defense would be devastating. this comes on top of -- $50 billion in one year to the defense. and it doesn't touch at all medicare and the other entitlement programs. >> gregg: biggest drivers and cost and absolutely nothing has been done about those things? >> it's criminal. she is things are going to destroy us. we can live with higher taxes, you might not think it's the best idea on the rich. i think it's a way to go about it but we can't survive we are without adjusting our entitlement reform unless it is addressed. >> gregg: jamie weinstein, it's criminal -- i didn't take it that far but you do did. >> without a fiscal cliff teal the pentagon is bracing for $500 billion but that is over the next decade and raises questions how military leaders plan to keep t

hospital with a blood clot. >>> and less than 24 hours until the nation heads over the fiscal cliff. we'll go to washington to see if lawmakers are any closer to cutting a deal and we'll tell you what will happen if they don't. >>> we begin with today's "y opener," your world in 90 seconds. >>> hillary clinton will be celebrating the new year from a hospital bed. >> secretary of state hillary clinton is hospitalized in new york city. >> she's got a blood clot she suffered from a fall. >> it left her severely dehydrat dehydrated. clinton had been planning to return to work this week. >> there's still significant difference between the two sides. >> today the final day of fiscal cliff negotiations. >> i want everybody know i'm willing to get this done but i need a dance partner. >>> vice president joe biden is now in on negotiations. >> do i wish things were more order will i in washington? absolutely. >>> a tour bus crashed on an icy oregon highway has killed nine people and injured 20 others. >> today is december 231st. there's going to be a huge celebration in times square with everyone waiting for the crystal ball to drop. >>> new video surfacing from

edges closer to the fiscal cliff. president obama and top congressional leaders will look for common ground to keep automatic tax increases and spending cuts from kicking in. they have only four days to reach an agreement. the u.s. economy and make over the so-called fiscal cliff. reaching a deal before them will not be easy. because right now, both sides are involved in a high-stakes political blame game. >> we are here in washington working while the members of the house of representatives are all watching movies and watching their kids play soccer and basketball and doing all kinds of things. they should be here. i told president i would be happy to look at what they're he promises but the truth is is that we are coming up against a hard deadline here and as i said this is a conversation we should have had months ago. >> democrats want to extend the bush era tax cuts to everyone except those americans who are making $250,000 or more a year. many republicans remain against the tax increases. >> former president george h. w. bush is still in intensive care at a houston hospital this morning dealing with a stubborn fever. the former president's